faster to the barns. He opened door after door, the air burning in his lungs.
“Please God. Please. My babies. I got to save our babies.” And the horses were part of that, the lifeblood of the ranch.
He opened stalls, whooping and waving his arms, and sure enough, the horses and all seemed to know what to do, running for it. Then he went for the goats. The twins and maybe momma would come with him, the rest could just roam.
“Dad-O! I hear it!”
Suddenly he could too. A huge freight train rolling through the sky, the clear warning chilling him to the bone. He scooped up the twins, Jakob grabbed Nanny, and they ran.
“Ringo!” He saw the damn border collie trying to herd donkeys back to the barn. “Inside! Now!”
Ringo gave him a look of pure canine astonishment but ran ahead of them to the house. Mama Cass woofed at them from the front room, then made her way to the bathroom with them.
“I’ll be right back. You stay here. Jakob, get Daisy safe in her seat and get all padded in tight!” He ran again, grabbing a case of bottled water, a flashlight, and batteries. God, where was the damn emergency radio deal?
The house started to shake, so he gave up. This would have to do.
He didn’t have time for dragging a mattress, but as a last-ditch effort, he grabbed couch cushions. He slid into the bathroom, getting all the extra pillows that would fit in the tub. Nanny, Cass, and Ringo all crowded close, knowing something was wrong, and he covered them as well as he could with cushions, then put himself over the kids and the puppies.
“Hang on, babies!”
“Dad-O?” He didn’t know who spoke, but it didn’t matter.
“I’ve got all y’all. We’re going to be okay. Let’s pray, okay? I got y’all.”
Please God. Please. Save my babies. All of them. And keep Brent and the cowboys safe. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
A sound like a scream filled the air, and he heard the world shattering and breaking all around them.
He heard a great whump of sound, and then the whole world went silent and black.
Goddamn.
Chapter 26
“Boss.” Bald Harold shook his shoulder, making Brent jump up. “I’m here to take my watch. You need to head home, huh?”
“Yeah.” His neck had a crick the size of…well, his neck. “Thanks. They’re moving him to a room. I put you on the list of next of kin.” He needed to get to Trace, make sure the generator was running. Apologize.
“Good deal. Boss. You got to go. Now.” Hal stared at him like he was a goddamn lunatic.
“What?” He felt his face. “Do I have a booger?” Brent grabbed his hat, then his phone, which was out of juice. Damn it.
“Boss, there’s tornadoes hitting all around. You got to get home to them babies.”
“Shit.” He clapped Hal on the back. “Thank you for coming.” Then he ran. He needed to get home. Now. Hal was right.
The rain was coming down so hard he could hardly see a damn thing, and his boots felt slick as snot as he hurtled through the ankle-deep water of the parking lot. He needed to charge his phone and call Trace.
He got the truck out on the road, then plugged in his phone. Took a good five minutes to get a charge enough to call, which was long enough for the radio to tell him the whole damn world was full of tornadoes.
“Fuck!” He slammed one hand on the steering wheel. What the hell was going on? He had to think about his route home, because if the rain was coming down, still, like this, he would have to avoid low areas.
He started calling Trace, but it didn’t ring. It went right to voicemail, and that sent a chill down his spine.
“Fuck.” He whispered it kind of like a prayer. “Oh God, please. I got to get home.” He gunned it as much as he could and still be marginally safe. He wasn’t gonna kill someone.
He kept calling Trace, leaving messages.
“Baby, I’m coming.”
“Baby, if you can, call me back.”
“Baby, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’m heading home.”
He knew he was being a drama llama, but Jesus, the last thing he’d said to Trace had been godawful, and he knew it. He hadn’t meant it. He’d been frustrated and tired and stupid.
Now he had to pray he had a chance to apologize. He called again, then tried Jan at the diner. Then Wiley. Fuck. Had a